


A Halloween Encounter

by Skeletor42



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Female My Unit | Byleth, Halloween, Pining, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26608450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeletor42/pseuds/Skeletor42
Summary: Sylvain drags the Blue Lions to a Halloween costume party hosted by the Golden Deer. Dimitri is reluctant to go until he hears that Byleth is supposed to attend as well.This is a modern day/university AU.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 7
Kudos: 52





	A Halloween Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't able to fit in all the student's costumes. There is a list of what I imagine each would wear at the bottom. Let me know what you would think each would wear :)

[](https://imgur.com/rNanfsY)

### Thursday Night

“Did you guys hear about the Halloween party this weekend? We’re all going, right?” Sylvain asked his group of childhood friends, Felix, Ingrid, and Dimitri. “I already told Hilda that we’d all be there.”

“I don’t have time to waste going to a stupid party,” Felix huffed. “Between classes and fencing practice, I hardly have time to sleep.”

“Whatever you say, boss. I know you’ll show up anyway,” Sylvain laughed.

“I’m not opposed to going if everyone else is,” Ingrid said. “As long as it’s not a night before class.”

“Perfect, that only leaves you, Dimitri,” Sylvain looked at the blonde with pleading eyes.

“I don’t know, Sylvain. It’s pretty last minute and I don’t even have a costume,” Dimitri sighed.

“You can borrow the knight costume I wore a couple of years ago! It’ll be perfect. You can approach the ladies and tell them you’re their knight in shining armor,” Sylvain winked.

“I was at the party you wore that to. Every girl there avoided you like you had the black plague. It was fitting at least,” Ingrid rolled her eyes. She knew it was going to be another night of apologizing for Sylvain’s behavior.

“What are you going as this year? I assume you’ve had some plan for a while,” Felix asked.

“I am glad you asked. Hilda and I are going as Lloyd and Harry from Dumb and Dumber. I dibbed Harry. The orange suit would’ve clashed with my hair and we couldn’t have that,” Sylvain said.

“Isn’t that movie a little on the old side?” Ingrid asked.

“No, it’s perfect. Ladies love nostalgia. Anyway, Hilda and I promised to be each other's wingman, so we needed something that doesn’t say couple.” Sylvain raised his hands and added air quotes as he said couple. "We have a side bet going with Lorenz over who can get the most numbers by the end of the night, I’m expecting great things,” Sylvain said dreamily. “So Dimitri, you coming?”

“I’m just not that great at parties, everyone will have more fun without me,” Dimitri responded.

“You know that’s not true!” Ingrid interrupted. “We all want you to come.”

“I have it on good authority that a certain T.A. from Professor Seteth’s course last semester will be there. Would that sweeten the deal?” Sylvian grinned.

Dimitri turned a bright shade of red before stuttering, “I-I, I don’t know who you could be talking about.”

“Oh you know, blue eyes, dark blue hair, and a body shaped like,” Sylvain gestured with his hands.

“If you insist I come, I will. But please, just leave her alone. I told you last semester that I was merely being polite to her. I’m not interested,” groaned Dimitri.

“Mhmm, sure you aren’t. So it’s settled, I’ll get you the costume and we’ll meet in the Blue Lions common room before heading to the Gold Deer’s dorm on Saturday. We’ll have to get there a little early, I promised Hilda we’d scope the room beforehand to work on a game plan,” Sylvain winked then headed to his dorm room.

The remaining three looked around at each other, apprehension about the upcoming party was written on their faces. Sylvain was the only member of the group that was at home in that type of situation. 

“It can’t be too bad. We could all use some time away from our studies,” Ingrid said optimistically.

“It’s a waste of time, is what it is,” Felix huffed. “Every year he drags us out to a Halloween party, just to abandon us for the first woman he sees. He’ll disappear for a few hours before joining back up with us at the end of the night saying “true love waits for another day” or something equally nauseating.”

“Well, I‘m stuck going. I can’t, in good conscience, leave Sylvain alone to his devices. I’ll try to make the most of it though. I heard Claude likes to have a good feast at his parties, so there’s always that.” Ingrid smiled at the promise of good, free food. It was hard to come by as a student and she wasn’t going to let Felix dampen her excitement for it.

“It’ll do us some good,” Dimitri said after giving the event some thought. “Too frequently, the Blue Lions are represented socially by Sylvain and the reputation he gives us is a little, well, unsavory.”

The other two couldn’t argue that point. Most of the Blue Lions focused on their studies more than socializing, except for Sylvain. Everyone frequently heard the rumors of him sneaking out of a different woman’s dorm each weekend. Their only solace is he left the woman in the Blue Lions dormitory relatively unscathed. 

When confronted, Sylvain always used the excuse of his parents pushing him to meet people from the other dorms, something that almost every student heard from their own parents. The University of Seiros was the most prominent school in Fodlan and was attended by the children of some of the most influential people in the country. There were four dorms, each designated to house students from a specific region of Fodlan. The regions consisted of Adrestia in the west, Faerghus in the north, Leicester in the east, and Garreg, which was located centrally and hosted the university. Their dorms were Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, and Ashen Wolves, respectively. Parents and students alike saw the University of Seiros, or UoS for short, as an opportunity to network with people from other regions.

“Fine. I’ll go, but only so I can get the old man to stop nagging at me. I swear every time he calls me, the first thing out of his mouth is “have you made any new friends yet?” It’s annoying,” Felix scoffed. “I’m friends with Leonie from Leicester and you guys, what more does he want?”

“I don’t think being friendly with one person from a different region who you only really see during fencing is what he had in mind when he sent you here,” Dimitri sighed. He understood the motivation Felix’s father, Rodrigue, had. Having as many connections in the business world was only ever a positive. “He probably wants you rubbing elbows with someone like Claude, the heir to the largest shipping company in Fodlan, or Edelgard, the daughter of Fodlan’s president.”

“It’s easy for you,” Felix harshly said. “Your dad runs the biggest tech business in the country. People seek your friendship. You’re just some prize they want to win.”

“That’s enough, Felix!” Ingrid exclaimed. She’d had enough of his sharp words. “We all have a lot of pressure on us between our school work and parent’s expectations.”

They looked up as Annette and Mercedes entered the room. “We just ran into Sylvain and he told us we had to free our calendar for Saturday night before hurrying off. Do you guys know what that was about?” Mercedes asked in her soft voice.

“The Golden Deer are hosting a Halloween party that he wants us all to go to,” Ingrid answered.

“That sounds like so much fun!” Annette fidgeted excitedly. “I have to find the perfect costume. What are you guys going as?”

Dimitri listened while the group chatted about costumes and the party. He excused himself after a while and headed back to his dorm, plopping down on his bed as soon as he entered. He let out a long sigh as his mind raced.

Sylvain was right. He didn’t want to admit it, but he had a small crush on Byleth, the teacher’s assistant from last semester. Fine, maybe small was putting it lightly. The entire semester was miserable for him. He could hardly string a coherent sentence together when she was in earshot. Then Dimitri would sign up for every study group Byleth hosted, only to spend the whole time looking at her and turning every shade of red when she made eye contact back.

He told himself that the crush would fade as the semester went along and when it didn’t, he decided there was nothing he could do about it while she was the T.A. of his class. The only issue now is that she wasn’t his T.A. anymore and just another student, albeit a year ahead of him. Nothing was stopping him from approaching her at the party and at least try to flirt a little. Well, almost nothing, he always saw her with Claude. Sylvain told him that he heard from Hilda they were just friends, but Dimitri thought it was more. They were hardly apart these days, always whispering back and forth.

He felt a lump grow in his throat as his mind raced with thoughts about the party, about Claude, and mostly about Byleth. She was always so demure with everyone. She treated everyone with kindness, but to Dimitri, it made her hard to read. Even advances from Sylvain were met with steady politeness, and even the most experienced person would blush at some of Sylvain’s most lewd lines.

There was no use in worrying, Dimitri told himself. He would make a polite appearance at the party, chat for a bit, and return to his dorm. Most parties ended up with him talking to Dedue in a quiet corner. There was no reason to expect this one would be any different. Even if this is the first chance he’s had to talk to Byleth, the woman who hasn’t left his mind in months. He would smile at her, try not to blush or stammer, and be happy with the small smile she may gift him in return.

### Saturday Afternoon

Sylvain came to Dimitri’s dorm early in the afternoon with the costume in hand. Dimitri was reluctant to be a knight, but his class load didn’t allow him the time to find something better and, honestly, he didn’t have any other ideas himself. He looked at the costume and frowned. It was well made. A shining dark steel encompassed the armor and was accentuated by teal fabric that wrapped around the hips. The problem was how eye-catching it was, Dimitri would stick out in the crowd, which was fine for someone with the confidence of Sylvain, but he wasn’t sure about it himself.

“You’ll look great in it,” Sylvain said uneasily as the silence lengthened. “It’s the perfect costume to save any damsel in distress at the party.”

“I’m sure the woman there won’t find you that repulsive,” Dimitri quipped. 

Sylvain dramatically grabbed an imaginary spear in his chest and began to act out his death. “You wound me,” he said as crumpled to the ground. “But seriously, it’s good to see you joking. You seemed a little on edge all of yesterday. I was worried you might bail.”

“That was,” Dimitri inhaled slowly, “unrelated. It has just been a stressful week. I’m sure the party will be fun.” He forced a smile at his red-haired friend.

Sylvain eyed his friend suspiciously and wondered if he should have not mentioned Byleth being at the party. They all knew he had a thing for her. Hell, even Hilda knew and she’s hardly talked to Dimitri. He knew how to get dates and phone numbers for himself, but as much as he wanted to help Dimitri, he couldn’t. His lines would sound foreign in the mouth of someone so genuine as his friend. Plus, no matter how many Sylvain used himself, Byleth always looked at him like all he said was “the weather is nice” before thanking him and walking away. He didn’t know what advice or help he could give Dimitri when she was so restrained with her emotions.

The only one who Dimitri may have had help from was Claude. Claude was so secretive though, and even if he wanted to help, Dimitri was icy towards the guy. Sylvain understood why. Byleth was always with Claude and despite Sylvain telling Dimitri otherwise, he was convinced they were together. There was no denying that Claude was attractive, with his golden skin, dark wavy hair, and glowing green eyes. Between that and his familiarity with Byleth, he couldn’t blame Dimitri for being jealous.

Sylvain set his hand on Dimitri’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You’ll knock them dead in that costume. I shouldn’t even let you borrow it. All eyes will be on you. Word of advice... if there’s anyone there you may want to talk to, tell her her eyes glisten like the night’s sky or something. People love compliments on their eyes. I have to get ready, we’re meeting the rest of the group in two hours and then heading over to the Deer’s dorm.”

Dimitri nodded and tried to gulp down his nerves. Despite constantly telling himself that he wouldn’t worry about Byleth and that his crush was in the past, he felt his body tighten with nerves. His stomach felt like a bottomless pit that was simultaneously filled with the flutter of a thousand butterflies.

He sent a text to Dedue asking him to stay by him tonight. Though his friend’s words were few, they carried the power to put Dimitri at ease. Something Dimitri thought he’d desperately need to get through the party. 

Slowly, he put on the costume piece by piece. He fumbled with each clasp, his nerves caused havoc on his already clumsy fingers. Pull yourself together, he thought while he dressed. It was only a party, and even if Byleth was there, he might not even see her with how many people Sylvain predicted would be there.

Finally, he got the last boot of the outfit on and sighed while looking at himself in the mirror. His blonde hair sat messily on his head and a cowlick graced his bangs. He’d have to beg Felix to help him with it before leaving. He appraised the rest of his reflection with a critical eye. It wasn’t that he found himself unattractive, but he lacked the self-assured confidence of Sylvain. Both Annette and Mercedes were surprised when they heard he had never truly dated before. They said his icy blue eyes would make anyone swoon. 

The closest he’d ever been to dating someone was years before when Edelgard’s family visited his father’s business headquarters. He was charged with keeping her entertained. The memories of his puppy love for her, of her teaching him how to dance, filled him with joy, but never amounted to anything more than him suspecting the feelings weren’t completely one-sided. She never kept in touch like they promised when she returned to Adrestia. It was his first experience with heartbreak. He went to Felix’s room next to his, knocked, and went in.

“Do you think you can help me tame my hair a bit?” Dimitri asked, hoping his friend was in a giving mood.

“Again? It’s not difficult to tie your own hair back. Why do you need me?” Felix shot back.

“You know I’m all thumbs. Every time I’ve tried, it ended with me snapping countless hair ties before giving up.”

“Fine, but don’t expect me to do this for you forever,” Felix sighed and gestured to his desk chair. Roughly, he tugged the blonde’s hair back into a short ponytail. He had to admit, despite treating him with apathy or disdain most of the time, he did like Dimitri. Maybe tonight, he could go a little easier on him. The guy was a bundle of nerves already.

“What do you know, it doesn’t look half bad,” Felix said while he held a mirror for Dimitri to see.

“Thank you. I really do appreciate the help,” Dimitri smiled and felt a little less tense now that his hair was tamed.

“Look, I’m only going to say this once, so don’t expect our friendship to be all buddy buddy,” Felix sighed. “Girls like guys who are aloof. Act like they don’t exist and they won’t leave you alone, trust me.”

Dimitri was taken aback by Felix’s advice. He could only nod as Felix escorted him out of the room. As he made his way to the common room, he heard a commotion and looked into the open room it was coming from. Mercedes was trying to help Annette untangle herself from countless ribbons. 

“Do you guys need any help?” Dimitri asked as he entered the room.

“Oh look Annie, a knight in shining armor has come to save you!” Mercedes let out a low chuckle when she saw Dimitri’s face redden.

“I don’t know how I get myself in these situations,” Annette moaned. “I’m doomed to be the clumsiest person alive!”

Dimitri and Mercedes diligently worked at the knots in the ribbons, slowly releasing Annette. Finally, the redhead was freed from her fabric prison. She stretched out her wrist and savored the ability to move again.

“Thanks so much guys!” Annette beamed at her friends. “I don’t know how much longer I would’ve lasted.” She looked at Dimitri. “Aww, your costume is way better than mine.”

“It’s just one of Sylvain’s old ones,” Dimitri admitted. “I didn’t have enough notice about the party to get my own, though I’m not really sure what I would’ve gone as anyway.”

“You look very dashing,” Mercedes smiled. “I’m sure Sylvain will regret lending it to you when all the girls end up wanting to talk to you instead of him.”

Dimitri blushed again. Mercedes was always so nice to him, and her words helped him feel a little more at ease. “Thank you, but I’m afraid they’ll be disappointed even if they tried talking to me. I’m not the most exciting conversationalist.”

“Nonsense! I always enjoy talking to you,” Annette said.

“We’re already friends. When I talk to new people, especially under the pressures of the party, I tend to draw a blank of what to say,” Dimitri shifted uncomfortably. Most of his experience with parties before had been events his father hosted for the business. They forced him to go to present an image of a united and happy family, but no one truly wanted to talk to him there. They were all networking events for the adults.

“I’m sure there will be someone at the party who will be happy to spend time with you if you just be yourself. Besides us, of course!” Mercedes said.

“I will try my best, but you wouldn’t mind if a tagged along with you at some point, right?” The girls both nodded. “I’ll let you finish getting ready.”

Dimitri went down to the common room and found Ashe, Dedue, and Ingrid already waiting. He sat in an armchair furthest from the fireplace. Garreg was already losing most of its summer heat, but it was still much warmer than Faerghus typically was, and the suit only added to the heat.

“The party should be fun,” Ashe was the first to speak. He was always cheerful no matter the occasion. Dimitri found him endearing and a pleasant foil to the moody Felix.

“I’m not so sure. Sylvain gives us a bad reputation as is, and it’s usually even worse around Halloween. Last year I counted three whole drinks thrown in his face. However, I did talk to Lysithea, she’s a year younger than us and lives at the Golden Deers, and she said Claude is having it catered. There’s always a silver lining, I guess,” Ingrid said.

“My parents told me there was a catering event on campus that one of their restaurants were doing. I wonder if this is it,” Dedue said. 

“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Ingrid said dreamily. “I love your parents’ restaurant. Duscurian food is my favorite.”

They idly chatted as the remaining members slowly trickled in. Sylvain entered last and looked at his watch. “We better get going, Hilda will sulk if I’m any later.”

“You were the last one to finish getting ready. It’s your own fault you’re late,” Felix scoffed.

“Can’t rush perfection,” Sylvain grinned and admired the group. Annette was dressed as a cat while Mercedes was a mouse, both had big ribbons in their hair. Ashe wore a Robin Hood costume and was carrying a bow on his back. Sylvain had seen Ingrid’s costume before and knew it was her favorite. She had a brown wig on and Hogwart’s robes. Hermione Granger suited her, they both enjoyed being morally superior, Sylvain thought. Dimitri was, of course, a knight while Felix was harder to guess. He wore a leather jacket and jeans and said he was a Ramone. When pressed on which one, he’d ask, “does it matter?” Dedue’s was the most surprising. He had a paper flower pot around his waist and bright yellow petals circling his face. 

“You guys look great! I really appreciate everyone coming.” Sylvain was truly thankful for the friends he had. “Let’s head out.”

### The Party

They arrive only a few minutes before the party’s official start time. The Golden Deer were already milling around, eager for the guests to arrive. They heard a woman’s excited shriek and saw pink ponytails bob as she ran to hug Sylvain.

“Big Gulps, huh? Alright! Welp, see you later!” Hilda quoted as she let go of Sylvain.

“According to the map, we’ve only gone 4 inches,” Sylvain quoted back.

“Hey guys,” Hilda greeted the rest of the group. “Dig your costumes! Make yourselves at home. We’ve already had a few people from Black Eagles show up. Still waiting on anyone from Ashen Wolves, but Yuri likes to be fashionably late to everything. Well,” she grabbed Sylvain’s wrist, “we’re ‘going to hang by the bar. Put out the vibe.’” Sylvain winked and waved as she pulled him away.

The rest of the group migrated to an empty corner and stood awkwardly for a bit. Each person glanced around to see if anyone else they knew arrived yet. Caspar showed up, dressed as Conan the Barbarian, and began to talk to Ashe. Eventually, the two went to grab food with Ingrid in tow. Felix disappeared shortly after.

The room started to get more crowded; the party was in full swing. Dedue, Annette, Dimitri, and Mercedes chatted about all the costumes they’d like so far. They saw Edelgard dressed as a very convincing Elsa and laughed as Hubert towered over her in his Olaf costume. Ferdinand, dressed like a vampire, approached Annette. 

“Would you do me the honor of dancing with me,” he whistled through his fake teeth. He bowed deeply and he kissed Annette’s hand. She looked back at Mercedes, who nodded in encouragement and went with him.

“Don’t let him try to kiss your neck,” Mercedes called out after them and giggled. “Dancing sure does sound like fun.”

“If you would like, I have been told that I’m an adequate dancer,” Dedue offered with a hint of a smile on his face.

“I’d never take you as a dancer, Dedue. I think I’ll have to take you up on that." Mercedes looked quickly at Dimitri. “Oh, but I don’t want to leave you by yourself.”

“Don’t worry,” Dimitri smiled sheepishly. “I can make do on my own. You two have fun.” 

Dimitri gave Dedue a thumbs-up as he left with Mercedes. His friend confessed that he was interested in Mercedes at the start of the semester, but never found the opportunity to act on it before. Dimitri was glad that at least Dedue would have a good night. He glanced around for a familiar face and saw Balthus dressed as a shirtless Wolverine. So the Ashen Wolves had shown up, Dimitri thought to himself. He felt apprehension creep in again.

He couldn’t stand still anymore and headed towards the food. Dimitri couldn’t decide if he really wanted Byleth to be there. He’d been a bundle of nerves since Sylvain mentioned her attending, and convinced himself he wouldn’t be able to talk to her if he saw her. He grabbed a small plate of food to distract himself with and saw Ingrid.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Dimitri asked her.

“I’ve given up keeping tabs on Sylvain in favor of the food. I may feel a little guilty on letting him and Hilda reign free, but I deserve a night off once in a while.” she took another bite of her food. “What about you?”

“Dedue abandoned me for a dance with Mercedes. I decided it was a sign to mingle with new people, so obviously, the person I talk to first is one of my oldest friends.” They both laughed.

“So he finally worked up the courage, huh? It’s been pretty obvious he liked her for a while now. If only we all were that brave.” Dimitri noticed her eyes lingering behind him. “But maybe we don’t have to be. Excuse me, I just saw Raphael and need to get his opinion on these curried kabobs.” She smiled at Dimitri and while walking past him whispered good luck under her breath.

He stood there with a surprised look on his face as he tried to work out why she would say that. Then he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Hello there,” Byleth said.

He turned around quickly to see the blue-haired woman in a draping dress and golden headband. “O-Oh, hello Professor Byleth,” he stammered out.

“Please, just Byleth. Even when I was your T.A., there wasn’t a need to call me professor,” she said.

“Right, sorry about that. I will try to stop that habit of mine.” Dimitri tried to feign a confident style. “How have you been this semester? Are you still helping Professor Seteth?”

“Yes, he asked me to help again, and he’s a hard man to say no to. Flayn is in his class this time though, and she makes it more interesting. You should see her. He’ll say something about docking points off people’s grades for some small reason and she immediately argues against it. He’s backed down every time so far.” She laughed, a sound that caused Dimitri’s heart to flutter.

He heard the voices of all his friends as if they were surrounding him. “Act aloof,” Felix called. “Compliment her,” he heard Sylvain. “No, just be yourself,” Mercedes argued. The silence went on for a bit.

Byleth was the first to speak again. She always seemed to stay cool no matter the situation. If she felt any awkwardness at all, Dimitri couldn’t decipher it on her face. “I like your costume. The knight armor suits you well.”

“Th-thank you,” he blurted, and felt his face redden. “You look nice, um, what exactly are you dressed as?”

“I’m Hera... it’s silly. Claude told me I had to come and then decided I’d go as Hera for me and he would be Hermès. It doesn’t really make sense when we’re on our own, I thought it was going to be a bigger group costume honestly. The only other god here is Cupid, who isn’t even Greek. Lorenz just thought it would be a good way to meet women.”

“He’s Hermès? Wouldn’t it be more fitting for him to go as Zeus if you’re Hera?”

Byleth almost choked on her drink while laughing. Once recovered she said, “Eh, no. That would make it a couple’s costume.” She paused for a second, “You didn’t think we were dating did you?”

Dimitri felt his heart in his throat. He always saw Claude next to Byleth, so he just assumed they were together. He thought his crush on her would have to go unrequited, but he was wrong. Now there was a chance. With a grin, he said, “oh well, you too always seemed very close.”

“No, it’s not like that. I traveled around a lot as a kid with my dad being in the military and all. Even though I’m living in the Ashen Wolves dormitory, I never really had a specific region of Fodlan that I considered my own. Claude had a similar childhood, always moving between Fodlan and Almyra so we’ve bonded over that since meeting. He says outsiders have to stick together.” She was silent for a moment. “He’s probably too busy to date anyone, really. He’s always talking about all the work he needs to do to see his plans for the future come to fruition.”

“Would you like to dance?” Dimitri asked. Suddenly he felt braver about the situation. Byleth approached him and she’s not dating Claude, this was his opportunity.

“That sounds like fun,” she grabbed his hand as they headed towards the other dancers. A slow song played, and they rocked back and forth quietly. He blushed each time she looked into his eyes. The song ended too quickly. Unsure what to do, Dimitri was about to walk back to where they were originally standing.

“There’s a particular window that I know about in this dorm that lets you get on the roof. We could grab some food and go there. The party is getting a little too loud for me. The peace of the night sounds nice right now,” Byleth said before he could leave. All Dimitri could do is nod and follow her.

The roof overlooked a pond that shimmered in the moonlight. Dimitri felt thankful for the crisp air that nipped his cheeks as they set up a small picnic. Byleth sat next to him, slowly breathing in the autumn air with her eyes closed.

She opened them a moment later. “Thank you for coming out here with me. I’ve never been very good at parties.”

“I bet you always have people asking you to dance,” Dimitri said. He remembered watching her dance with Linhardt and Yuri at a different party he was dragged to a few months prior. Jealousy threatened to emerge as he quickly pushed the memory away.

“There’s too much movement at parties. Everyone expects you to talk to them, but you never say anything meaningful because you have to move onto the next person before you can. I’m not saying they can’t be fun, but it’s too chaotic for me.”

“We’re in agreement then,” Dimitri smiled. “I find it’s difficult to make small talk. There are only so many words I can say about the weather or school work before I come to an awkward silence.”

“You seem to be doing fine now.”

“Must be something about how peaceful the night is out here.” Dimitri saw her shiver. He undid the teal scarf-like fabric that was wrapped around his waist and draped it over her shoulders. Silently he cursed the armor, wishing he could wrap her in his arms to keep her warm. The steel would just make her colder.

“Thank you,” she murmured and rested her head on his shoulder despite the steel. He was scared to move, worried any little thing would wake him from this dream. They spoke with newfound ease together. He told her about his life in Faerghus and his friendships with the other students in the Blue Lions dorm. She told him of the different places she’s lived. About the small city of Remire where her father taught her how to ride a bike.

Dimitri heard his phone buzz and glanced at it. His heart dropped when he saw Ingrid texted him saying they were leaving. 

“It’s getting late,” Byleth said, sensing the contents of the message. She stood and stretched out the aches from sitting on the roof for so long.

Dimitri sighed and stood too. He looked into her eyes and the longing he felt for her since they met hit him all at once. He swiftly stepped forward towards her, not breaking eye contacting as he moved. His left hand found the curve of her back while his right entangled in her hair as he gripped the back of her head. He leaned in and found her lips with his. When he felt her lips respond, he deepened the kiss, lingering there for as long as he could. Reluctantly, he broke it off and stepped back. He smiled as he watched her trace her bottom lip with her finger.

“Are you free next Saturday?” She nodded dreamily at his question. “I could stop by the Ashen Wolves dorm around 7? I know of a particularly charming bistro that’s a short ways from here.”

“That sounds perfect,” Byleth whispered, still slightly out of breath from the kiss.

“I’ll see you then. Have a good night.” They smiled at each other for a moment before he stepped through the window. He made his way to the door, not noticing the party still going on around him, and found his friends waiting on the front lawn. Dedue and Mercedes held hands, while everyone else stood alone.

“Hilda seemed pretty chummy with Caspar by the end of the night, but I take it you didn’t have any luck,” Ingrid said to Sylvain as they began the walk back to their own dormitory.

“Dorothea said she’d consider it if she didn’t have any better options,” Sylvain replied.

“What happened?”

“Petra happened. Apparently she picked tonight of all nights to confess her feelings to Dorothea. I didn’t stand a chance. I’d pick Petra over me too. I may have mentioned “expanding” their little party, but all that got me was a slap.” He rubbed his still tender cheek. Dorothea packed a surprising amount of power. “You’re being awfully quiet, Sir Lancelot,” he eyed Dimitri. “I don’t suppose you had any better luck.”

“Huh?” Dimitri was pulled from his stupor. “Oh, you know. It was the same as any party.”

“Well, at least everyone else seems to have been unsuccessful too,” Sylvain sighed, then eyed daggers at Dedue. “Almost everyone at least.”

The excited chatter around him faded in his ears as he floated to the dorms. His body felt like it was on fire. A date for next Saturday with Byleth. He felt pain in his cheeks as the smile that wouldn’t leave his lips grew.

### Costumes

Blue Lions  
Dimitri - Sylvain’s post time-skip outfit/knight  
Sylvain – Harry from Dumb and Dumber  
Felix – A member of Ramones  
Dedue – A potted sunflower  
Ashe – Robin Hood  
Ingrid – Hermione Granger for Harry Potter  
Mercedes – A mouse (gray leotard, mouse ears, a bow, and painted on whiskers/pink nose)  
Annette – A cat (black leotard, cat ears, a bow, and painted on whiskers/black nose)

Black Eagles  
Edelgard – Elsa from Frozen  
Hubert – Olaf from Frozen  
Ferdinand – Lestat from Interview with a Vampire  
Linhardt – Sleepy from Snow White  
Caspar – Conan the Barbarian  
Dorothea – Wonder Woman  
Petra – Lara Croft, Tomb Raider  
Bernadetta – Blow up T-rex costume hoping no one would know it was her

Golden Deer  
Claude – Hermes  
Lorenz – Cupid  
Raphael – Boxer from Fortnite  
Ignatz – Bob Ross  
Hilda – Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber  
Leonie – Katniss from The Hunger Games  
Lysithea – Traditional Witch  
Marianne – Princess Aurora

Ashen Wolves  
Byleth – Hera  
Yuri – Too cool for a costume  
Balthus – Shirtless Wolverine  
Hapi – Van Helsing, spends most of the night throwing garlic bulbs at Ferdinand  
Constance – Sailor Moon  
Flayn – Nun outfit


End file.
